To Remember, To Forget
by rachellondondo
Summary: William Nolan is a man with a painful past. He tries to forget his past when there's a knock on his door... Loki has gone missing since 2012. The Avengers failed to find him. When Tony Stark suggests to take a look at alternate universe, they found a man with a painful past instead. Could this man be Loki? Or just a man from another universe?
1. Unexpected Knock on the Door

_1\. Unexpected Knock on the Door_

William Nolan woke from a nightmare, _the_ nightmare he had every single time when he was about to forget who he was ten years ago. Living in New York, in America, helped him to escape from his painful memories, but it wasn't enough for him to entirely forget.

The nightmare always began with a gunshot, and it always ended with spatters of blood. It didn't go into specific incidents in his past, but just the fact that the two elements which symbolized murder were present caused him to sweat and possibly scream in bed.

He didn't scream this time. Instead, he just panted, and took a look around at his surroundings. He was sitting up in his bed, with his Macbook Air beside him—he must've fallen asleep working late last night—and there was a white closet to right side. Next to the closet, there stood a door. A door that led to the living room. The door to the "normal" life.

Suddenly, that door opened and a little girl who looked like nine or ten, in her pink unicorn pajamas, ran in.

"Daddy!" She called out, as she jumped onto William's bed, hugging him.

"How did you sleep, my little princess?" William asked with a warm smile.

His daughter—Ava Nolan—was an everyday reminder to William, that normal life was possible, no matter how much tragic your past was. Seeing her immediately relieved him, the nightmare slipping out of his mind.

"Pretty well, Daddy. How about you?"

At this, William bit his lip. The nightmare and his painful past have flown right back in, making him close his eyes for a second.

"It was great, Ava," he answered with a forced smile.

Ava's smile widened, and she clung onto William, as he carried her into the living room, then into the kitchen.

"What do you want for breakfast?" William asked.

"A bagel with strawberry cream cheese," Ava said.

"Comin' right up," William said as he opened the refrigerator.

It was a very simple and regular morning for the Nolans, but what they didn't know was that they would have a visitor, one who's probably not so normal, in the next hour or so.

.

"No signs of him in Germany, either."

Tony Stark let out a long sigh and tried not to turn to the direction of where Thor stood, but it was too late. Thor was standing right in front of him, and it was almost impossible not to look at him, especially if this was a matter of his brother.

It has been six years since Loki attacked New York, and although the Avengers eventually succeeded capturing Loki, therefore putting an end to his invasion, Loki went missing not long after.

At first, the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. of course suspected that Loki has escaped on his own, in order to avoid his punishment he would face back in Asgard. However, as time passed and inspections continued, it came to known that Loki might have been abducted, by some unknown forces. They found some traces of Loki's blood and dark magic in some form. Even though there were objections, refusals, and many arguments, it was eventually decided that they should look into all possibilities.

Six years had passed by, but they couldn't locate him anywhere in the world or realm. Thor has returned to Asgard many times to seek power from Odin himself, but even Odin could not figure out where Loki went, or if he was even alive to this day. It seemed like Loki wasn't anywhere in the nine realms, but Thor wasn't about to give up on his brother.

The rest of the Avengers focused on finding any clues or signs that would lead them to Loki, such as traces of spells on Earth. Finding a hidden, missing person was tremendously difficult and time-consuming task, so it took them about a year to analyze every single event, person, incident in one continent. Europe required more precision, because it was believed that if Loki was living anywhere on Earth, it had to be somewhere in Europe.

But since Germany turned out to be another failure, the hope that Loki might be alive was gone. It was the last stop, and he wasn't there.

"I'm sorry, Thor," Natasha Romanoff said.

She wasn't quite happy when the majority of the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents agreed to search for Loki. He was a criminal—a brutal one who killed 80 people in two days. His invasion of New York has left the city scarred, and that didn't seem to go away to this day. There were still people who hated Loki—the families who lost their loved ones because of him. She only changed her mind because of Thor. It is true that Loki has committed some unforgivable crimes, but he was Thor's brother, _only_ brother. Adopted or not, terrible or not, Loki was Thor's family.

"…Search is done," Steve Rogers said.

He didn't know what else to say, because he knew saying "I'm sorry" or anything similar to that won't make things better. No one understood that more than himself. After being frozen for 70 years, Steve has lost so many people, including Agent Peggy Carter, his first love. When she closed her eyes forever two years ago, Steve couldn't help but regret being alive for a moment. It could've been better if he just froze to death 76 years ago, then he wouldn't have to go through losing love of his life. Sayings such as "I'm sorry for your loss" didn't make things better. In fact, they had an opposite effect on Steve, since he truly felt that he lost Peggy.

"No—it isn't," Tony objected.

Everyone in the room turned to him, including Thor. There was no hope in his eyes, but he was still curious what Tony would say next. For the last six years he had known him, Tony always had a reason when he objected things.

"Tony, we looked everywhere. I mean— _everywhere_. Even Thor's father couldn't figure it out. Loki's gone, Tony, we need to accept that now," Bruce Banner raised his voice.

He was the last person to agree to search for Loki, along with Natasha. He couldn't understand why all of the sudden they would look for the enemy they just defeated. If Loki got kidnapped, why would it be their business? Why would they— _the Avengers_ —care for Loki? Although his negative feelings towards Loki have died down over the years, now he was ready to end his search once and for all. He wasn't going to hold onto some myth or theory that he might be alive out there somewhere.

"Not everywhere," Tony insisted. "There's one more possibility."

"And where would that be?" Thor asked.

Tony looked around the room before giving his answer.

"…Alternate Universe."

.

It was when William and Ava were halfway done with their breakfast when they heard a knock on the door.

"Who would that be, Daddy?" Ava asked, with curiosity.

William frowned, since he had absolutely no idea who would be knocking on their door at ten in the morning. Some of his colleagues were coming over later in the afternoon, but even if they had mistaken the time or perhaps decided to come early, it didn't make sense.

"I don't know," William answered with uncertainty.

He slowly walked across the living room and opened the front door with some hesitation. When he did, he couldn't help but stare at his unexpected visitor. He was quite tall, 6'3" perhaps, and had long blonde hair that came down to his chest. He was wearing a silver armor with red cape. He also had some kind of hammer in his right hand.

What surprised him the most though, was what the man called him.

"Loki…It's been so long."


	2. Mistaken

_2\. Mistaken_

"…Alternate Universe."

Everyone in the room stared at Tony for a moment, unable to believe what he just said. Tony Stark was a scientist—apart from a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist—and scientists don't quite believe in alternate universes. There have been many theories about alternate universes but none of them were proven true, because no one has experienced it. This was Tony Stark who was still an atheist after meeting two gods. If he didn't believe God exists, how could he possibly believe there might be some different reality out there?

"What did you just say?" Bruce questioned in disbelief.

"Alternate Universe. You know, parallel universe, a different version of reality co-existing with this one," Tony explained.

"I know what Alternate Universe is, Tony. What I mean is, why do you think Loki—the one whom we know—is on some different world out there?" Bruce rolled his eyes.

Without giving an answer, Tony walked up to a computer screen and started to type something. Soon, there was a digital map projected on the big screen in front of the Avengers. There was a blue dot glowing at one spot on the map.

"…That's where our long-lost god is," Tony informed rest of the Avengers.

"That's New York," Natasha pointed it out. "Are you saying…he was hiding in New York all these years?"

"Yes and no," Tony said.

Everyone looked at him, demanding more explanation when he didn't elaborate further.

"When I first began my research on Alternate Universe three years ago, I had learned that our Earth, the one we are standing right now, is Earth-54. The map up there—is the world map of Earth-16."

"How do you know that?" Clint Barton, who has been quiet all this time spoke up.

He didn't really agree or disagree when it came down to searching for God of Mischief. He simply didn't care, because the disappearance of Loki didn't really affect his personal life. His family was safe, and that's all that mattered. When Bruce and Natasha sometimes complained about lengthened search, he would just ignore them, because he wasn't picking sides here.

"Because I've built an Alternate Universe Portal," Tony confessed with a sigh.

"What's that?" Thor asked, clueless.

"It…transfers you through alternate universes," Tony answered. "Which means, we can get Loki."

"And you built _this_ in just three years?!" Steve exclaimed in disbelief.

He knew Tony was intelligent—he was the son of Howard Stark after all—but the idea of building Alternate Universe Portal never crossed his mind. After spending 70 years under the ice, Steve had a lot of things to catch up on. From political events to pop culture references, which didn't even include all the advanced technology, he had to learn literally everything happened for the last seven decades or so. So it always struck him when Tony came up with some brilliant inventions, of course including his Iron Man suits. But those inventions were not even comparable to what he just said.

"Yes. I heard Hank Pym has built the Quantum Tunnel in two years, so I don't really think it's quite a surprise," Tony said.

"You never managed to tell us for last three years?" Thor asked with half-anger and half-curiosity.

Although Thor was still quite ignorant when it came to Earth and its technologies, he wasn't surprised when Tony managed to build the Alternate Universe Portal. He knew Tony was talented in that field. What he didn't understand however, was the fact that Tony never decided to tell him and the rest of the team. They could've searched for alternate universes from the start. But instead, they wasted last six years on random countries of Earth. He could've told him, at least. He deserved to know.

"…I wasn't sure. I didn't want to you to have false hope. I didn't start looking into alternate universes until JARVIS picked up a faint signal in a universe. It was a miracle. I immediately began my research, and I just finished up the Portal. It's ready," Tony explained.

He could feel hurt behind Thor's eyes. He understood that Thor was upset because he kept Loki's possible location from him, but he didn't regret his decision. He knew how Thor would react if he had told him when Tony first discovered the signal. Thor would've attempted to travel to an alternate universe right away, even before Tony has figured out how Alternate Universe worked. He might've made the right decision, but he couldn't help but to feel guilty when Thor looked into his eyes.

"…Then I'm going," Thor declared.

The Alternate Universe Portal was powered up in an instant, and Thor stood in front of it, tightening his grip on Mjölnir.

"Here, take this," Tony handed some kind of metallic button to Thor. "This is a Portal Opener. When you press this on the other side, we'll know that you're coming home."

Thor just gave him a small nod. The Portal opened. It looked like a black hole—only it was blue, instead of black. When Thor was about step forward, Steve proposed a question.

"What if Loki doesn't remember you at all? What if…he's not Loki?"

Thor bit his lip. After learning what Alternate Universe meant, he couldn't resist the feeling that Loki might not be….Loki. He could be an entirely different person. But Tony tracked him down by using Loki's Scepter and his DNA sample. It had to Loki. It had to be.

"He is Loki. If not, I'll make him remember."

With those words, Thor stepped into the Portal without hesitation.

.

When Thor went through the Portal, he was standing in an alleyway. Luckily, no one has seen him coming out of mysterious blue hole. Instead of silver shinning armor and red cape, Thor was wearing a black suit. He has put his long, blonde hair into a man bun. He opposed changing his clothes and looks at first, but in the end, Tony was able to convince him that other people—the New Yorkers on the other side—will look at him as if he had a mental illness. Thor, who deeply cared about his reputation and honor, accepted Tony's proposal. Tony simply changed his clothes and looks as Thor went through the Portal. He also disguised Mjölnir as an umbrella. Thor looked down, pretty satisfied with his new look.

"Not bad, Stark," Thor said.

He simply walked out of the alleyway and stepped into this another version of New York. It basically looked quite the same on the outside. Lots of skyscrapers, hotels, shops, traffic, and people. Most of them were in their business attire, fast-walking so they could to get to work on time.

Thor didn't have to walk that much to find the building he was looking for. It was an apartment building, and it said "209" on top of the double doors. Thor went in and took the stairs. Tony had given Loki's apartment address before Thor left, written on a small piece of paper.

The piece of paper read:

 _209 Elton Street Apt. 307_

 _New York, NY 10019_

Before Thor realized, he was standing in front of suite 307, where Loki supposedly has been living past six years. Before knocking on the door, Thor gently tapped his umbrella and his suit, therefore transforming himself back to the Asgardian form. Thor figured whether Loki remembered him or not—thought presenting himself this way would be better either way.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, Thor thought he might not be home or something. But the door slowly opened with a creaking sound—and there he stood. Loki.

He had short hair and was wearing a plain white t-shirt with his pajama pants. If Thor saw Loki like this six years ago, he would've laughed at the way Loki dressed, but not today. Their eyes met, and Thor couldn't help anymore.

"Loki…It's been too long," Thor blurted it out.

"I beg your pardon?" William questioned.

William instantly thought this man was out of his mind. Loki? His name wasn't Loki. His name was William. Also, he has never met this man in his life. Even during his painful days, he has never encountered this man.

"It's..it's me, Thor. Your brother," Thor said with a bit of disappointment.

"Thor? I don't know you. Is this some kind of joke?" William asked firmly.

Thor stared at Loki—or William for a moment. He knew Loki might not remember him because this was the Alternate Universe after all, but hearing him say 'I don't know you' was hurtful. Loki has played many tricks on him since they were little kids, but none of them included Loki rejecting Thor. Loki always acknowledged Thor as his brother. Even after he found out about his true parentage, Loki continued to call Thor brother. Thor knew Loki wasn't lying to him this time. Loki truly didn't know who he was.

William saw pain in Thor's eyes. He knew that pain—he has lost someone before. He could his pain, but William also knew there's nothing he could do about it. Sadly, he wasn't Loki. Given how Thor called him Loki right away, he might look like Loki. But, on the inside, he was an entirely different person. He was William Nolan. He was _always_ William Nolan.

When William was about to close the door, Ava came running in.

"Daddy! Who's this?"

Ava stood beside William, holding his hand. Thor looked at Ava with surprise. He suspected Loki might be a different person, but he never thought Loki would have a daughter. Loki was never a family person. Loki always carried pain in him, and soon enough, that pain took over Loki and caused the New York invasion. Thor couldn't believe Loki managed to have a daughter. That he loves someone.

"This…is…" William hesitated to answer.

"I'm Thor. I'm your father's brother," Thor answered it for William.

William gave a look at Thor, but Thor ignored him. He was sure that this was his brother Loki, and he wanted to get to know his niece more.

"You're my uncle? That's cool!" Ava said with excitement.

In Ava's eyes, Thor looked like one of those warriors that you see in the movies and she was very thrilled to meet one. William didn't want to disappoint Ava by saying Thor wasn't his brother. At least not right away. He knew he didn't have a choice now. William sighed and looked at Thor.

"Alright, then, come on in."

Thor smiled and stepped into the apartment.

.

"So, this is where you've been living for last six years?" Thor asked as he looked around the apartment.

"No, last ten years—"

William stopped himself. Why did Thor assume he's been living here for last six years? Then, he realized, Thor could be one of _them_. He could've come here to take him back, and now he was just testing William to see if he got the right person.

"Ava, go to your bedroom," William commanded.

Ava knew William wouldn't talk in _that_ tone unless it was an important matter, so Ava simply went inside. After hearing the bedroom door closed, William glared at Thor.

"…What do you want?" William hissed at Thor. His accent has also changed—from American to British.

Thor looked at William confused, wondering why he suddenly changed his tone, but he could feel that William was no longer friendly or polite.

"What do I want? I want my brother back," Thor answered.

"I never had a brother because I never had parents," William said.

Thor started to see some similarity between William and Loki. Loki never had parents. Of course, he had Odin and Frigga as his parents, but he never had biological ones. His biological father, Laufey, was an enemy of Odin. Loki killed him without hesitation to receive attention.

"Now you are sounding more like Loki," Thor pointed it out.

"Tell me, who are you? Are you one of _them_? Are you here to take me away?" William asked.

Here, William meant _them_ —the ones who gave him a painful past ten years ago—but Thor just interpreted it as if he was referring to the Avengers. And yes, Thor was here to take him home.

"Yes, I am."

As Thor answered, William threw a kitchen knife at Thor, and Thor had barely enough time to dodge it. The knife gave him a small cut on his cheek.

"Now you try to kill me? You are definitely indeed Loki," Thor said as he touched his cheek.

"I'm _not_ Loki. You are not going to drag me back to _that_ place—"

William couldn't finish. There was a loud bang on the door, and soon there were ten men in the living room.

"Agent Nolan, you're coming with us," one of the men declared.

William gave him a quick look and turned to Thor again.

"This was your plan, wasn't it?"

"No, what are you talking about, Brother? Who are these men?" Thor asked with confusion.

At that moment, Ava came out of her bedroom, and ran to William. William shielded her from the men. He never wanted Ava to witness this—of his past. He thought he has put his painful, tragic past behind him when he left it ten years ago. He was very wrong to believe that. He could never escape from them. _Never_.

"Daddy, I'm scared," Ava said in a small voice.

She could see men in black suits surrounding William and Thor.

"Ah, Agent Nolan, I see your daughter has grown into a beautiful young girl," the same man said it with a cunning smile.

"If you lay your hands on my daughter, Ludwin, you will face far more worse fate than death," William threatened.

The man—Ludwin—just laughed. William tightened his fist, ready to fight these men at any moment.

"William Nolan, once an assassin, now a loving father," Ludwin sneered. "How last ten years changed you."

"What do you want with my brother?" Thor asked, tightening his grip on Mjölnir. A small blue lightening formed around it.

"Your brother? I suppose you are mistaken," Ludwin said. "Agent Nolan, you need to leave with us. _Now_."

William didn't move. He looked at Thor. Then at Ludwin. He didn't trust neither of them, but he knew going with Ludwin was far worse. It took him ten years and a huge sacrifice to get away from them. He wasn't about to go back.

"I wonder how you found me, Ludwin," William opened his mouth. "Right after Thor came in."

At this, Ludwin flinched. William didn't miss that.

"Perhaps, Thor's presence is why you are here. I am aware that you've been watching us for last ten years. I know you weren't going to set me loose," William said with a smile.

"He's a very dangerous man, Agent Nolan," Ludwin said, trying to gather himself. "He has been identified as a threat to our organization. Now, for your safety, please come with us."

William knew Ludwin was running out of patience. He knew he had to take action as soon as possible.

"I've ended ties with the organization ten years ago," William said. "I'm not about let it back into my life."

"Well, in that case, I guess we would have to force you," Ludwin said.

The men cocked their guns at William and Thor. But before they could shoot, Thor launched himself at them and hit them with his hammer. Half of them were knocked out. Then, he pressed the Portal Opener.

"Stark, now!"

The blue hole formed, and Thor yelled at William.

"Brother!"

Without hesitation, William went through the portal, along with Ava.

"Shit! Get them!" Ludwin shouted.

The rest of the men tried to get hold of Thor, but he was too strong. Right before the portal closed, Thor threw himself into it.

When the portal closed, Ludwin immediately dialed his phone.

"…He got away."

" _As planned_ ," said a voice on the phone.

.

William and Ava fell to the ground. When they looked up, there were a group of people looking down at them.

"Who are you guys?"

"…We are the Avengers," Tony said.


	3. Interchanged Lives

_3\. Interchanged Lives_

"…We are the Avengers," Tony said.

"Avengers? What kind of code name is that?" William asked, as he got up.

But before Tony could provide an answer, Thor fell on top of William.

"Point Break, you've returned!" Tony exclaimed.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Stark," Thor said. "I brought my brother home."

Thor grinned as he looked for William. But he didn't see him, only his panicked daughter looking down at Thor. When he was about to ask where his brother was, he heard a voice below him.

"Would…you…mind…getting off?" William grunted.

"Ah, sorry, Brother."

Thor got up and William breathed for a moment. Thor was heavier than he thought.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Ava asked, with worry in her eyes.

"I'm alright, sweetheart," William said as he got up for real this time.

The Avengers—Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Bruce—just stared at William and Ava. Did the little girl just call God of Mischief 'Daddy'? Did he just call her 'sweetheart'?

"Are you sure this is your brother, Loki?" Steve asked, with doubt.

He didn't know Loki that well, but given his past encounter with him, this man was very far from Loki Steve remembered. He knew for a fact that Loki wouldn't have a daughter. He was just not that kind of man.

"Yeah, I don't think God of Mischief would have a daughter," Natasha agreed.

"Or, Reindeer Games has finally changed for good," Tony suggested.

"He's my brother. He's Loki," Thor assured them.

William sighed. He was grateful that Thor saved his life and his daughter's in a way—but he was getting tired of how Thor thought he was his brother, Loki. It seemed like even his friends didn't believe him, so why should he?

"I'm telling you, I'm _not_ your brother. Do you ever listen?" William insisted.

"No, that's my problem, Brother," Thor said. "I don't."

William rolled his eyes at Thor. He then turned to the Avengers, who were still looking at him and Ava with disbelief. He wondered what kind of person this Loki was that it was so difficult for them to believe that Loki possibly has a daughter.

"I don't think I introduced myself," William said. "I'm William Nolan. This is my daughter, Ava Nolan."

Ava clung to William, since she had no idea who these guys standing before her were. She never heard of them, and she wasn't so great around strangers. She saw those men in suits trying to attack William a few moments ago. What if these guys try to hurt her dad, too?

Tony raised his eyebrow when William said his name. He sure wasn't Loki. William had a totally different tone compared to Loki's, and his green eyes did not reflect any hurt or pain like Loki's did. But Loki's DNA and his scepter led Tony to William. He also looked exactly like Loki. Tony didn't think it was a coincidence.

"Tony Stark. Also known as Iron Man in this world," Tony said.

"Steve Rogers, or Captain America."

"Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow."

"Bruce Banner, the Hulk."

"Clint Barton, Hawkeye."

William was quite surprised to see that each one of them had a code name. But from the moment he went through that portal with Ava, he knew the people waiting on the other side weren't quite normal. Normal people don't have the ability to travel through portals.

"Where am I, exactly?" William asked, looking around.

He was in a building, but that's all he could figure out. There weren't any windows, so he couldn't tell if he was in a skyscraper or a basement of some kind.

"You are in another universe, apart from yours. This is still New York," Tony explained.

William seemed to be surprised at first, but then he remembered he and Ava just went through a _portal_. Usually, a portal leads to people to different worlds and universes, so it wasn't quite a surprise.

"What do you mean?" Ava asked.

Ava just witnessed some men trying to kill her father. And she went through some kind of portal, which lead her here, in a room with full of strangers.

"It means you are in a different world, sweetie," Tony said. "For instance, this is New York, but it is totally different than your New York. You don't know who the Avengers are. You know your dad as William Nolan. In our world, he is known as Loki."

Ava was still confused, but she understood that she wasn't in some place she was familiar. Ava turned to William, who was scanning the group of strangers in front of him, trying to figure out who they are.

"Daddy, who were those people? It seemed like you knew them," Ava murmured.

William's face instantly turned dark. He didn't want Ava to know his past—he managed to keep that a secret for last ten years. He thought it was unnecessary for Ava to ever find out. A child like Ava should never know what he had gone through ten years ago. But it was too late, she had already seen those men. William knew this was not the end. They would come after him and her.

"Those people?" Steve questioned.

"There were…some men whom Loki seemed to know from his past," Thor explained. "They were trying to force him to come with them."

Everyone turned to William, hoping for a further explanation. William sighed.

"They are…a part of my painful past," he said. "I worked with them ten years ago."

"What kind of work?" Tony asked.

"Let's just say I was a real-life James Bond," William confessed. He glanced at Ava. "Only much worse."

Natasha understood William right away. He had killed people on command. He probably went through extreme torture, experiments…other things that were far worse than death.

"I'm sorry," she said.

William locked his eyes with hers. He knew she went through similar things as him. He could just feel it.

"I left them ten years ago," William said. "Because I wanted to live a normal life. I wanted to raise Ava myself."

"He has lived a tragic life just as Loki," Bruce said. "Maybe far worse."

"I will not let them hurt my brother," Thor declared with anger.

"Not to ruin the moment here, but can I take him to my lab to do a quick check-up to see if he's our Reindeer Games or not?" Tony barged in.

"Reindeer Games?" William questioned.

"He means Loki," Steve explained. "He likes to give people weird nicknames."

"They are not weird, Capsicle. They are perfect," Tony defended himself.

William agreed for a test, just so Thor would stop calling him Loki. Tony led William down to his lab.

"Where's Daddy going?" Ava asked, a bit worried.

"He's just doing a DNA test," Bruce explained. "To see if he's really Loki or not."

"I can give you a tour of this place if you'd like," Thor suggested with a smile.

He thought this would be a good chance to get to know Ava. He wanted her to like him and treat him like a father if she wanted to. Ava gave him a small nod. Thor held out his hand and Ava grabbed it with a slight smile. When they disappeared from the rest of Avengers' sight, Steve opened his mouth.

"Never thought of Thor as a sweet guy."

"Well, Ava's his niece, supposedly," Natasha pointed it out.

"William might not be Loki," Clint said. "At least he didn't sound like him."

"Let's hope he is," Bruce said. "If not, Thor's going to have a hard time."

.

In the elevator, Tony and William were standing together, enduring the awkward silence. Tony realized Loki was no long Loki—but it was still weird for him to be around him, remembering how last encounter with him went down. But he also hated awkward silences, so he decided to speak first.

"So, Thor appearing in front of your apartment and calling you Loki did nothing good?" Tony asked.

"No, I don't know why he keeps calling me that," William said. "I thought they were both just a part of Norse mythology."

"I don't know about your world, but in this one, they are real," Tony said.

Thankfully, the elevator opened at that moment, so Tony didn't have to continue the conversation.

"This..is your lab?" William asked in surprise.

William couldn't believe his eyes. There were many advanced technologies in the room—metallic suits, 3D screens, and a gigantic machine—that William never seen in his life. Even during his early days, the best technology got was a self-driving car.

"Yeah, started in 2008," Tony said, as he walked over to one of the screens. "Now, I'm gonna need you to stand over here."

William stood where Tony pointed.

"JARVIS is going to simply scan you to see if you match Loki's DNA and his past," Tony explained.

William gave him a small nod.

"JARVIS, begin the scan," Tony commanded.

"Yes, sir. Beginning scanning…" JARVIS said.

William startled, trying to figure out where the voice came from.

"Don't need to worry, that's just my A.I. system," Tony assured William.

"Scanning's done, sir," JARVIS said.

The result appeared on Tony's screen. He looked at it with surprise.

"…Let's go tell the others."

.

"…Here's one of the places where Stark keeps his suits," Thor said as two of them walked in to the weapons lab.

"His suits? Do you mean he wears those robots?" Ava asked.

"Yes, when we fight the bad guys," Thor answered with a smile.

He thought Ava was adorable. She was curious at everything—literally _everything_ —she bumped into. She kept pointing at all the gadgets and facilities Thor showed, and he couldn't help but to smile a bit. What he loved the most about Ava, though, was the fact that she called him 'Uncle Thor.' Even after seeing her dad deny that Thor wasn't his brother, for some reason Ava believed him.

"You said you call yourselves the Avengers, Uncle Thor. What do you guys exactly do?"

"We…take down the bad guys, dear," he answered with pride. "We protect this world."

"So you guys are superheroes?"

"Guess you could say that."

Ava looked at Thor with admiration, because she thought she had the coolest uncle ever. She thought if she ever went back to her world, she was definitely going introduce him to her friends at school.

"You tired, Ava?" Thor asked.

Her pace was slowing down, and Thor could see it. He felt sorry because he knows he's man who's difficult to kept up, especially for a little girl.

"A little bit."

"Ah, I'm sorry, you can climb on my back if you'd like," Thor said with a smile.

"Really? I don't want to bother you, Uncle Thor."

"You won't bother me, and I want you to," Thor said, kneeling down so Ava could climb.

When she did, Ava tightly held on to Thor's neck.

"Hold on tight, princess," Thor said.

He carried her all the way to the room where everyone else was.

.

When Thor and Ava arrived, William and Tony were already there, waiting for them.

"Who knew Point Break had a heart?" Tony teased when he saw Thor was giving Ava a piggyback ride.

"Shut up, Stark," Thor grunted, as he put down Ava.

"Daddy!" Ava ran straight up to William, who hugged her tightly.

"I'm not used to Asgardian gods being this affectionate," Clint said.

Everyone—except Thor and William—seemed to agree with Clint. Even for last past six years, the Avengers were quite busy taking down HYDRA, managing S.H.I.E.L.D. after its fall, and fighting Secretary Ross whom tried to make the Avengers sign the Sovokia Accords.

The person who hated the Accords the most was Tony, because he wasn't about to sign the damn thing so he could be like a slave weapon to the United Nations. When the Avengers were first assembled, their main purpose was to avenge the world—or protect it. They were never meant to be under someone else's control.

So, there wasn't much chance for the other Avengers to see Thor be affectionate, especially since his former girlfriend Jane Foster decided to dump him not long after the New York invasion.

"Speaking of Asgardian gods—" Tony spoke up. "I'm here to deliver the results."

Everyone looked at Tony. Thor was waiting for this moment for such a long time. He knew this was his brother, Loki. He just didn't remember it, that's all. But what Tony said afterwards shocked Thor.

"…He's not Loki."

"What did you say, Stark?" Thor questioned.

He couldn't believe what he heard. He had to be Loki. He had to be!

"I said, he's not your brother, Loki. I ran a test on him, and he didn't match anything to what Loki had. Not his DNA, blood type, or his past," Tony said bitterly.

Thor's face darkened. He looked at William. He had clear green eyes, and same dark raven hair. He looked so much like his brother—but science was telling him otherwise.

"I'm sorry I'm not your brother, Thor—" William started to speak.

"Enough! I can't do this. Not anymore," Thor yelled.

Before someone could stop him, Thor jumped through the opened window, then flew away with his Mjölnir.

Everyone was silent for a moment. They didn't know what to say. William just looked at Ava. She didn't say anything, but she had tears in her eyes.

"…Now what do we do?" Steve asked no one in particular.

"I don't know," Tony sighed.

William looked down. He knew this wasn't his fault—not directly, at least—but he knew he hurt Thor. Although he just met him like an hour ago, the thought that he hurt someone who saved him and Ava from _them_ , bothered him.

"There must be a reason why you thought I was Loki," William spoke. "Why was that?"

"We had Loki's blood sample and his scepter, which is like a weapon he used. I managed to analyze them so when we found Loki, we would able to run a test to see if we had a match," Tony explained.

"But how did you narrow it down to me?"

"When I started my research, you had almost perfect match to his scepter and the blood sample. In other words, I tracked you down."

William thought that couldn't be a coincidence. There were a lot of things in life that could just randomly happen—get into a car accident, bump into someone you know, your phone shatters a month or two before you get a new one—but this was science they were talking about. And after taking a look around the lab, William concluded that Tony was a great scientist. A brilliant one. If he found him as almost perfect match to Loki, there must be a reason.

"But when you did run a test on me, you found that I was completely different from Loki," William pointed it out.

"Yes, now I think of it, that doesn't make sense at all," Tony remarked.

"So if I was a perfect match, then why did I not turn out to be Loki?" William asked.

A person can go through change many times in his life, but DNA isn't something that changes overnight or even throughout his entire lifetime. Also, if Loki's scepter—a weapon once wielded by Loki himself—led to William, there must be a reason why.

Then, a thought occurred to William. A horrifying one—but also a possible one.

"…I have no idea," Tony let out a long sigh.

"There's something _the_ Tony Stark doesn't know? Wow, that's something," Clint said.

"Clint!" Natasha gave him a look.

"Sorry," Clint shrugged.

"I have an idea—" William said. "—about what possibly happened."

Everyone turned to him, waiting for him to explain. When William was about to do so, he realized Ava was still beside him.

"Well?" Tony raised his eyebrow at him.

"Ava, why don't you go to a…guest room," William suggested.

She has already seen too much. He wasn't about to let his daughter hear something horrifying about his past. She was too innocent for that.

"I'll take her," Natasha volunteered, holding her hand out to Ava.

Ava, a bit hesitant at first, grabbed Natasha's hand when William gave her a smile. When both of them disappeared from his sight, William finally reopened his mouth.

"Sorry for the delay, but this is something my daughter can never find about," he said. "It's too horrific."

"Alright, spill it, James Bond," Tony said. He was running out of patience.

"When I was part of the organization, I heard they had an experiment going on—called Code Black. It wasn't confirmed, but everyone knew there was something about it. There were various thoughts what kind of experiment would that be. One of them was about changing people's genes," William recounted.

"..Mutation." Clint stated.

"So are you saying you've been a part of this Code Black experiment?" Steve asked with his arms crossed.

William shook his head. Although being a part of the organization was chaotic, he never remembered being a part of such experiment. If he has, he would remember more about it. All he knew was there might've been a project like that.

"No, I've never been a part of such thing," William said. "But at the same time, the organization was insane. Still is to this day. They would do _anything_ to achieve their goals."

"And what was this organization you speak of?" Bruce asked.

William shook his head once again. They've already known too much.

"Can't answer that. I've already put every one of you in danger for explaining who I was. I'm not about to drag some strangers from another universe to my unspeakable past."

"You are a stubborn fellow, aren't you?" Tony remarked.

"It's for your safety, Mr. Stark," William said. "For all of yours. I've hurt too many people in my life. I'm not about to cause more harm. You don't know _them_ as I do."

"I can see why Thor claims you are Loki," Tony said. "Loki _did_ hurt a lot of people. He killed 80 people in two days."

"Not helping, Tony," Steve sighed.

Although William was indeed annoyed by Tony's constant remarks and jokes between conversations, he would be lying if he didn't enjoy them one bit. He started to like this Tony, no matter how egoistical he seemed to be.

"What are you going to do now?" Bruce asked William.

"I guess I'll go back with Ava. It's proven that I'm not Thor's brother, so there isn't really a reason for me to stay."

"Are you sure, sir? You said people from your past almost kill you. I don't really think going back right away is a good idea." Steve disagreed.

"I agree with Spangles here," Tony tapped Steve on his shoulder. "Why don't you and your little girl stay here for a couple of days? I want to run some more tests on you, if you don't mind. Your Code Black theory is giving me hope."

William was going to decline the offer, but then he remembered Ludwin. James Ludwin—a top-secret agent of the organization just like him—was cold-hearted man when William worked for the organization. He never hesitated to kill, whether an ally or an enemy, if he could accomplish his mission. And, encountering him a few hours, William knew he hasn't changed a bit. Ludwin will come for them again. He will take him by force. William had no idea what the organization wanted from him now that it's been ten years since he left, but he knew it couldn't be good. He swore he wouldn't kill again. On the day Ava was born. And he was going to keep his promise.

"Alright, but just for a few days, Mr. Stark," William nodded.

"Keep calling me that, please," Tony pleaded. "Honestly, no one has much respect for me nowadays."

He glared at his fellow Avengers. They just rolled their eyes and went off to do their own work. Tony led William to his guest room, the same room where Natasha was watching Ava.

"Hey, he's gonna be staying with us for a few days," Tony announced.

"Okay. Ava, I'll see you later," Natasha said with a smile.

Ava smiled back.

"Bye, Aunt Natasha."

Both William and Tony raised their eyebrows at what Ava just called her.

"Did she just say—?" Tony questioned Natasha as they walked out of the guest room.

"Shut it, Stark," Natasha didn't let Tony say those two words. She knew he would make fun of it.

"She's very nice, Daddy," Ava said with a giggle when Tony and Natasha left.

"Really? I'm quite surprised how fast you made friends with her," William said as he picked her up.

"She told me to call her that," Ava said.

William and Ava sat on the edge of the bed, and Ava began to tell what she did with Natasha while William was busy with explaining briefly about the horrors of his past life to the Avengers.

.

Ludwin walked down the hallway, fixing his tie. He almost had him. He almost had William Nolan. Before William decided to leave the organization, Ludwin never had a chance to suppress him. Although he was the better agent—at least in his own mind—Ludwin couldn't beat him. He would only rise to 1st place after William left. Voluntarily.

Ludwin stopped at the double doors. They were guarded by two agents. Ludwin gave them a slight nod and they opened the doors for him.

"…Agent Ludwin," a voice said.

"…Louis," Ludwin said.

"What makes you think that you have the right to call me _that_?" the voice hissed at Ludwin.

"Agent Nolan got away, _sir_ ," Ludwin reported, biting his lip. "Thor— _his_ brother—came and took him, along with Ava Nolan."

The voice, which belonged to a tall, middle-aged man with dark hair and skin, spoke with a cunning smile.

"I know. You told me that on the phone. But everything is going according to our plan, Agent Ludwin, don't you worry. You will get your revenge. They won't find anything on William Nolan. He's not _the_ man they are looking for. Not anymore."

Ludwin looked into his eyes.

"…Are you sure about that?"

The middle-aged man slowly changed his form. His eyes turned from brown to blue, his skin from dark to light, his hair from dark to blonde. Suddenly, he was a totally different man; his appearance exactly resembled Thor's if he had short hair and wore a suit.

"Yes, I am sure, Agent Ludwin. I am."

Ludwin walked out. When the double doors closed in front of the man's eyes, he muttered under his breath.

"You won't remember who you truly are…Brother."

.

 _May 9, 1999. Earth-16._

"…Did you succeed?" Louis asked.

"Yes sir," men in black suits answered.

They were holding a man—who had dark, long hair and clear green eyes—and Louis couldn't help but to smile when he saw him. He's been waiting for this moment since the day he was born. His father always compared him to William— _always_. He was the older one and the firstborn, but for some reason his father always seemed to favor William.

At first, Louis ignored it. He just worked harder and harder, believing that one day, his father would look at him different way. But he was wrong. His father gave his company to William, making him his next CEO. That's when Louis realized he was never going to get a chance. Unless…William suffered in a very tragic accident.

Not long after William received his CEO title, he was found dead in a car accident. It wasn't his fault of course; he just lacked defense driving skills. His father mourned for William for days. But at the end, he finally made Louis the CEO of Nolan Industries.

Louis looked down at the man who laid unconscious. He looked _exactly_ like William if you took away the long hair.

"…His name in the other world?" Louis asked.

"…Loki. He has a brother named Thor, who exactly looks like you," one of the men answered.

"I bet," Louis chuckled. "Before he wakes up, replace his memory with some new ones, He's going to have a new life."

The men in black suits nodded.

"His new name, sir?" the same man asked Louis.

"Why, William Nolan, of course," Louis said with a smile.


End file.
